At Global Alliance, we take the “Worldwide” in our company name very seriously. We pride ourselves in offering premium limousine services to our clientele not only in our home base of Toronto but around the globe. Through our sophisticated network of trusted worldwide affiliates, Global Alliance can provide professional chauffeured services in hundreds of international cities. We will discuss many of the major worldwide destinations served via our affiliate network on this blog. Today’s stopover is in the Gateway to the South, Louisville, Kentucky.
Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky and among the top 30 largest cities in the United States. Its metropolitan area, stretching outside of Kentucky to include several counties across the Ohio River in Indiana, is among the country’s 50 largest with a population of over 1.2 million.
Settled just before the natural navigational stopping point of the Falls of the Ohio, Louisville was founded in 1778 and named two years later for King Louis XVI of France, then a key ally of the Americans against the British in the Revolutionary War. Louisville grew into a city by 1828. It was a key shipping port along the Ohio and a Union stronghold during the Civil War, and through the 20th Century underwent the cycles of industrialization, urbanization, suburbanization, and urban renewal common to many American cities. Louisville remains a major manufacturing and shipping centre, with two major Ford automobile assembly plants, major whiskey operations (a third of all American bourbon is said to be made in Louisville), and three Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city (the best-known of which is fast-food chain Kentucky Fried Chicken).
Louisville is probably best-known as the home of the Kentucky Derby, the most prestigious horse race in America and one of sport’s iconic annual events. Held on the first Saturday in May since 1875 at the legendary Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby attracts thousands of visitors to Louisville. The two-week Kentucky Derby Festival precedes the race with parades, races on the river and the roads, and the Thunder Over Louisville, the continent’s largest annual fireworks display.
Other attractions in Louisville include the Kentucky Center for performing arts, and the numerous museums of downtown’s West Main District. A unique experience of the city’s river transport past can be had aboard the Belle of Louisville, the oldest Mississippi steamboat in operation (it was launched in 1914). The city’s major post-secondary institution is the University of Louisville, whose Louisville Cardinals sports teams have a large and loyal following in the region.
Louisville’s primary airport is Lousiville International Airport, which handles 3.2 million passengers a year and is also a major freight airport as UPS’s Worldport, the company’s largest package-handling hub.
Please feel free to contact Global Alliance Worldwide Chauffeured Services for all of your transportation needs in Louisville, Kentucky.